


The Worst Laid Plans of Birds and Men

by diamondforger



Category: Choujin Sentai Jetman
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Denial of Feelings, Fake Marriage, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29135439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diamondforger/pseuds/diamondforger
Summary: Ryu hadn’t planned for the con to get this far. He definitely didn’t plan for it to end like this.
Relationships: Rokumeikan Kaori & Tendou Ryu, Tendou Ryu/Yuuki Gai
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7
Collections: Toku Romance Exchange





	The Worst Laid Plans of Birds and Men

**Author's Note:**

  * For [borrowedphrases](https://archiveofourown.org/users/borrowedphrases/gifts).



“Do you actually think this will work?” Ryu fumbled with the zipper of Kaori’s dress. She looked beautiful, the absolute picture of elegance that a woman wanted to be on her wedding day. It was a pity she was wasting it on this.

“Yes,” she said as she stuck yet another pin in her hair. Ryu had long since lost count of how many she’d used to keep the flowers in place. “But even if it doesn’t, this was something I’d need to do eventually.”

“You don’t _need_ to.” He hadn’t thought they’d get this far. It was supposed to be a quick con, a fake engagement meant to be broken off just as it began. A trick to force an issue with a man that struggled to admit his feelings. It had been months and the fake marriage was all of a sudden far too real.

Kaori sighed. She turned to Ryu, placing a gloved hand on his cheek. “No, I don’t, but it’s easier this way. I wouldn’t have offered if it wasn’t something I wanted.”

Ryu frowned. They’d had this discussion a hundred times. He knew no force on earth could make Kaori to do anything she didn't want. It had been her idea after all. 

But neither of them had really planned for things to get this far. Neither of them thought they'd have to go through with the wedding.

Hopefully Kaori was right and they wouldn't have to. Hopefully, this would be the thing that broke Gai. 

Ryu was starting to doubt it. There’d already been so many opportunities for him to break.

They’d thought he’d break when they announced their fake engagement in the middle of the Sky Force reunion party. It had been more joke than anything, a half-baked plan made after a few too many cocktails. 

They were going to fall into each others arms and Gai would storm over and confess. But he didn't. All he did was congratulate them with a smile that almost seemed sincere before heading out early.

They'd woken up the next morning to splitting headaches and tabloid headlines of their engagement. Kaori went to do damage control only to come back with an different plan. With every passing year she'd experienced more and more prying questions about her private life and more offers from men who wanted her for nothing more than her bank account. Those had all been retracted the moment word of the "engagement" had gotten to the press. There were advantages to being perceived as "unavailable." That's when their little lie had turned into a major con. 

It was still temporary, of course. Kaori had a speech prepared for the end of their engagement, explaining how she was simply too heartbroken to think of another relationship. That speech had been been rewritten multiple times as the engagement dragged on and Gai didn't break. 

He didn't break when Ryu had named him best man and asked him to help with the wedding planning. Instead, Gai threw himself into it with a fervor neither of them had expected. It turned out he was an excellent choice for the job. A combination of experience working gigs as a musician and knowing how to hustle for better deals led to him turning the wedding into a reality far faster than Ryu'd anticipated. 

Gai didn't break at the bachelor party either. Ryu was convinced he almost had. It’d been a small intimate gathering, the exact type of party Ryu liked. Gai barely interacted with Ryu the whole night, far more occupied with dealing with background details. Ryu would have accused the man of avoiding him, but he knew Gai was proud. Offering his help was the best gift Gai thought he could give.

But when Gai wandered over late in the night, he'd been drunker than Ryu’d seen in a while and trying so hard to smile.

“I’m so happy for you,” he’d said, taking Ryu’s hand in his, “and for Kaori. I didn’t treat her right and she deserves to be with some who can love her like she deserves.”

Ryu flinched at that, but Gai didn’t seem to pick up on the guilt in his expression.

“You too,” he’d continued, squeezing Ryu’s hand painfully tight, “You deserve to be with some one who... who can be there for you. Someone who can really take care of you.”

Ryu had leaned in, close enough to taste the whiskey on Gai’s breath. “What about someone who loves me?”

The room was dark, but Ryu could swear there were tears forming in Gai’s eyes as he whispered, “You’re so lucky to have someone who loves you.”

Ryu had raised a hand, reaching out to cup Gai’s cheek, but it was too late. Gai stood up and was walking away.

The next morning he’d tried to tell Gai that there was someone who loved him. He’d tried to be honest, admit the lie, but Gai shut him down before he could start.

Now it was the wedding day and Gai hadn’t broken. He was still stiff and stubborn as always.

“This isn’t the end,” Kaori turned to face Ryu. She was radiant. Sometimes Ryu wished he’d fallen in love with her instead.

She leaned in to kiss him on the lips. It was practice. They couldn’t be out in public kissing like two teens forced to lock lips on a dare. But it wasn’t just practice. It was habit at this point. Kissing her wasn’t bad. It gave him a warm pleasant feeling in his chest. 

Ryu really did love her, in a way. She was his best friend, and he could do a whole lot worse than marrying his best friend.

He reckoned he could also do a whole lot better. He remembered what it had been like to kiss Rie. It hadn’t been a nice warm feeling, it had been hot and intense and overwhelming. He would drown in Rie’s kisses, whereas Kaori’s always felt... nice and not much more.

Kaori broke this kiss and turned to check her makeup in the mirror. “Even if he doesn’t say anything today,” she said, reaching for her lipstick despite the fact her makeup still looked perfect to his eyes, “It’s not like it’s your last chance.”

“People will talk.”

“Not as much as you’d think. You are a trophy husband after all,” Kaori winked at him, “Cheating spouses are the norm among the rich. Divorce is the norm too, just so you know.”

“I’m not that sort of man.”

“Of course you aren’t,” Kaori said, “and I’m not that sort of woman, but I might have to act like one. It's all about keeping up appearances.”

Ryu sighed. This had been a mistake. He should have just been direct. He’d been worried that he would scare off Gai if he came in too strong. The man always resisted direct approaches. It had seemed like the better way was to let Gai come to him. But they'd gone too far the other direction. 

There was a knock at the door and Ako burst in before waiting for a response. “Are you seriously talking to her in her dress before the wedding?” Ako grabbed Ryu by the arm and dragged him out of the room. “I know this isn’t real, but come on, it's bad luck.”

Ryu could hear Kaori laughing as the door slammed in his face. 

...

Gai was late. The wedding was happening and he wasn’t there.

Ryu wanted to delay, but he couldn’t justify it. The best man didn’t have a role in their ceremony, there was no reason to wait. Except he’d been hoping. Hoping for a last minute realization. 

What if Gai just didn’t show? What if the game had gone to far and Gai left for good this time?

The bridal music was playing and Kaori was walking up the aisle. Sweat beaded at Ryu’s forehead as she approached. She was so beautiful, but he couldn’t think about her. All her could think about was Gai.

There was still a chance. Gai could come crashing through the doors with an confession on his lips. It would be stupid and dramatic, but that was exactly Gai’s style, wasn’t it?

Kaori reached the front and they exchanged smiles. Ryu wondered if the others could see the pain in his eyes. Maybe it looked like nerves to the congregation.

Where was he? Where was Gai? Was Ryu really going to go through with this? Was he really going to enter a political marriage with one of the richest women in Japan?

Ryu snapped back to attention when the priest said his name.

“I do,” he said with his best attempt at a newlywed smile.

He could feel Kaori next to him, just as nervous as him. He reached out and took her hand as she said, "I do." 

They were married now. The next time he saw Gai, he’d be a married man.

...

Gai did show up. Showed up after the entire ceremony was over. Sitting on a bench outside the church, grinning at Ryu with a not-quite-guilty-enough smile. He winced when Ryu sat down next to him. His hand was stuffed in his jacket, clutching his stomach.

“I’m just hungover, you know how I am,” he said with another wince.

Ryu wanted to grabbed him right then and there and punch him. Pay back the favor that Gai had give him so many times in their relationship.

Why was Gai hungover? Was it because he was upset about the wedding? Did hoping that was the reason make Ryu a bad person?

Ako ran up to them, camera in hand. “Smile!” she said as she held it up.

Gai turned to the camera leaning close to Ryu. Odd. Gai didn’t smell hungover. There was no stale odor of whiskey on his breath. And he wasn’t wearing strong enough cologne to cover it up. In fact, stronger than the cologne was a sharp metallic smell. A smell that seemed oddly familiar. One that reminded Ryu of old days, patching up his teammates after battle.

“Go on,” Gai turned to Ryu with a glassy smile, “ Enjoy your wedding.”

Blood.

The smell was blood.

Ryu wanted to grab Gai and tear off his jacket to find the source of the smell. But it wasn’t the way to handle Gai. It would be inappropriate to start a fight at his wedding.

So instead he extended a hand.

“What's that for?” Gai scoffed and shoved his right hand farther into his coat. 

“I want to make sure everything's okay between us,” Ryu said firmly, “I’m not leaving until you shake on it.”

Gai’s face fell. “Why are you so determined to ruin your own wedding?”

Gai didn’t move his hand, but he didn’t need to. Red was leaking through the fabric of his jacket. Bright red stark against tan fabric.

Ryu was a leader. He was a solider. If there was one thing he was good at, it was handling a crisis.

Not this time. This time he saw blood and lost all composure. It was lucky that a large chunk of the wedding party were ex-military like him, because he was useless. The commander was able to direct people to get help and find the guests with medical experience. Raita and Ako had to drag Ryu away from Gai. He was aware that he was crying and babbling, but he didn’t know what he was saying.

He just needed to know Gai was going to be okay. He’d already lost Rie. He’d lost her twice. At least twice. It almost felt like he’d lost her more. Every time there’d been a crack in Maria’s armor he felt like he’d gained her back only to lose her again. 

He'd healed from that. It had taken years, but he'd managed it. Thought he'd managed it, at least. At the sight of blood all the pain came flooding back. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t do it again. He couldn’t lose Gai like he’d lost her.

He wasn’t sure he’d survive that.

...

Gai was in critical condition. It was bad luck. A small knife wound, but in a vulnerable part of the body. That made sense. They didn’t have armor anymore. Their bodies couldn’t handle explosions and bullets and fire.

But it was only a small knife wound.

And Gai wasn’t waking up.

The nurses tried their best to reassure Ryu. It wasn’t too late. Some people just needed a little more time to regain consciousness after surgery. Gai wasn’t dead yet.

Ryu barely heard it. He paced back and forth by Gai’s hospital bed for hours waiting for any change in his vitals. He sat and held Gai’s hand for even more. He traced the scars that marked Gai’s knuckles and the calluses on his fingers. The whole time the heart monitor beeped steadily in the background.

Gai didn’t wake up. He was pale and motionless as the sun set and Ryu’s eyes grew heavy. Kaori came in multiple times to comfort him and to try to pull him away. She got a hotel room right across the street, they would call them the moment he woke up.

Ryu didn’t move. He couldn’t bring himself to leave Gai’s side. Kaori let him be with a kiss on the forehead. She would be there if he called, but she had no interest in sleeping in the hospital’s uncomfortable chairs.

The sky outside grew dark. It was long past visiting hours and the hospital was quiet as the heart monitor beeped steadily, lulling Ryu to sleep.

...

The heart rate monitor wasn’t beeping steadily when he woke up.

It was beating rapidly.

Ryu’s eyes flew open and he nearly launched out of his chair. Gai was sitting up, eyes wide and breath uneven.

“What are you doing here?” Gai snapped as Ryu jumped to his feet. “You should be with-“

Ryu grabbed the collar of Gai’s hospital gown and yanked him into a kiss.

Gai let out a sound, soft and surprisingly sweet, before leaning into it.

The dam broke and all the emotions Ryu had been holding onto poured out. It felt like fire was coursing through Ryu’s veins. He hadn’t felt anything close to it in years. The logical part of him knew the Gai was hurt and it was important to be gentle, but his desperate aching need was overriding that.

He wasn’t alone in that.

Both of Gai’s hand tangled in Ryu’s hair, pulling him closer. He was practically hugging Ryu’s head against his. The heart monitor was beeping so rapidly that Ryu worried someone would come into check on them.

He wasn’t too worried though. Not when he was finally kissing Gai. He poured years of want into the kiss hoping that Gai would understand.

Ryu moaned as Gai’s tongue brushed against his lips. He opened his mouth, letting Gai in.

Then Gai froze.

Ryu barely registered the pause before a fist collided with his jaw.

“How dare you!”

Ryu fell to the ground. He couldn’t see past the stars in his vision, but he could hear Gai trying to climb out of the bed.

“On your wedding night?” Gai’s voice was shaking. As Ryu’s vision cleared, he could see the tears already sliding down Gai’s face. “I’m not going to let you use me to hurt her.”

“No, that’s not it,” Ryu tried to push Gai back into bed. He was hurt, he shouldn’t be moving.

Gai shoved him back. “Go to your wife!”

“Look, I’ll go get her. She can explain.”

...

Gai’s eyes flitted back and forth between Ryu and Kaori. The nurse had confiscated his seemingly endless supply of cigarettes and he’d taken to gnawing on toothpicks as he listened to them talk. He’d already amassed an impressive pile of chewed up splinters on his bedside table. 

“The whole time?” Gai asked, throwing down another decimated toothpick and picking up another. His free hand was twined with Kaori’s.

“Yes,” Kaori said, tracing soothing patterns into the back of Gai’s hand, “It was an engagement of convenience from the beginning.”

“And you told the others?”

“We didn’t tell dem.” Ryu’s lip was swollen and the ice pack had done little but numb the left side of his face.“Dey figured it out.”

“Ako knew from the moment we announced it,” Kaori explained, “She said I’d never miss a chance to throw a party over something as important as my engagement. Raita... it took him a bit longer, but he just had a feeling. He thought I wasn't taking the planning seriously and he asked why.”

“I’m the only one that didn’t realize.” The toothpick snapped in half between Gai’s teeth. He continued chewing on the half in his mouth as he rolled the other half between his fingers.

Ryu and Kaori looked down as Gai glared at them again.

“So, you’ve been in love with me, for years,” Gai said, “and you thought that the best way to convey that was announcing an engagement with my ex?”

“Would you have accepted ith I proposed directhly?”

“Of course not.” Gai tensed. brow creasing. “I’m not... I don’t...” Gai spit out the remains of his toothpick with a sigh.

Ryu watched Gai with bated breath. He’d been so certain that Gai returned his feelings. Convinced that it was just pride and stubbornness keeping Gai away from him. But now there was that fear. Fear of rejection or worse. He'd rather have Gai as a friend than not at all. 

“Get out.” Gai’s voice was firm, but not angry. He sounded mostly tired. “I need time to think.”

...

Ryu was standing by the phone when Gai called a couple days later. Not because he'd been waiting there. He'd just been watching the phone more than usual. A lot more than usual.

“Is everything okay?”

“They say I’m ready to be discharged,” Gai said, “but only if there are people around to take care of me. Can I... I want to go home with you.”

“Does that mean-“

“It means they won’t let me smoke in the hospital and you and Kaori are my closest friends,” Gai snapped.

Ryu couldn’t help but smile at that. The years had worn down Gai’s sharp edges, but hadn’t gotten rid of them entirely.

“Kaori’s got a place nearby,” Ryu said, “I’ll come get you.”

...

The ride home was nearly silent. Gai was still in rough shape. He could barely walk, but he was stable. He could have benefited from a longer stay, but Ryu knew being cooped up would make Gai insufferable. 

As they pulled up to the house, Ryu broke the silence. “Kaori said we can stay here as long as we want.” Ryu sat on the bed next to Gai. “Not just for your recovery. The place is mine if I want it, and it could be ours, if that's something you'd want.”

Gai's jaw tightened as he eyed the building up. It was a nice house. Relatively small, not a mansion like most of the places Kaori's family owned. 

“You’ve never been the type to accept charity,” Gai said after a long pause. 

“It’s not charity if she’s my wife.” Ryu wasn't sure he wanted to accept. He made decent wages by himself. It was a nice house though. Maybe he could convince Kaori to let him pay the mortgage. 

“So... you’re sticking with that?” Gai said quietly. 

"For the time being." Ryu parked and got out of the car. Gai needed help walking even as far as the front door. 

"I never thought the princess would settle for less than a fairy tale marriage," Gai said as he leaned on Ryu. 

"She wants a fairy tale romance, but she knows what kind of princess she is. The kind that settles for a political marriage." Ryu's face flushed as he helped Gai to into the house. He wasn't going to lose his head, like in the hospital, but it was nice to be physically close to Gai. He liked the feeling of Gai pressed so close to his side.

"She deserves better than that." Gai had to take a breather at the foot of the stairs. 

"I agree, but it was her idea. The thing she wanted more than anything was to be with someone she trusted." 

Gai frowned and started up the stairs. Ryu followed after him closely as the man shuffled up one painful step at a time. 

The silence was strained as they made their way to the guest bedroom. They avoided eye contact as Ryu helped Gai into bed and set up the pillows for him. 

Gai seemed on the verge of saying something, and Ryu waited patiently, but nothing came out. When there was nothing left to adjust, Ryu turned to take his leave. 

“Wait.” Gai pullled a cigarette out of his pocket. He didn’t move to light it, just twirled it idly between his fingers.

Ryu sat down on the edge of the bed, watching Gai closely.

“I’ve kissed a lot of women,” Gai said, eyes fixed firmly on the cigarette in his hand, “Fucked a lot of women, I know you hate the crassness, but it’s true.”

Ryu nodded.

“I was good at it. The fucking part. Never left anyone unsatisfied, at least not during the actual sex,” Gai continued, “But then in the after part, they’d start talking about emotions and long term plans and...”

Gai shifted, grimacing as he adjusted the pillow behind him. 

“I laughed at a lot of them. I told them that having emotions about sex was only for women... I think I may have been wrong about that.”

Ryu wanted to laugh, but this wasn’t the time. Gai was being serious and being open. “You were wrong. I’ve always had feelings after sex.”

Gai rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Well that’s because you’re...” Whatever clever insult had sprung to Gai’s tongue died in his throat. He sighed again. “Kissing you felt... different than all the women I’ve kissed before. It felt... is that that how kissing was always supposed to feel?”

“I can’t tell you how to feel.” Ryu inched closer to Gai on the bed. “I can tell you what it felt like for me.”

Ryu paused as Gai leaned forward a bit. “Are you just gonna leave me in suspense like that?” Gai asked in a tone that was almost his usual level of caviler indifference.

It was a vulnerable thing to admit. Years of pining, of fantasizing, of hoping. Ryu didn’t like being vulnerable anymore than Gai did. But Gai was meeting him halfway, it was more than fair.

“Kissing you was everything I hoped it would be." Ryu touched his still bruised lip. "Well, maybe not everything."

"I'm not sorry about that," Gai said with a small smirk, "It wouldn’t have happened if you were honest from the start."

"Fair enough." 

Silence stretched between them again. Gai twirled the cigarette in his fingers. He didn't have a lighter, Ryu realized. There was one downstairs, but he didn't want to leave without resolving this tension. 

"I want to try again." 

Ryu jolted when Gai broke the silence. Gai rolled his eyes and grabbed Ryu's jacket. "You heard me," he said as he eyes locked onto Ryu's lips, "You caught me off guard last time. Maybe those feelings were just a fluke."

Gai settled back against the pillows, forcing Ryu to be the one to close the distance. 

It was different this time. There was no desperation and no clumsy clinging. Ryu was able to hold back, but only barely. 

Gai was stiffer than last time. His hands were balled into fists by his side, but he wasn't pulling away. Not pulling away, but not pushing forward. It felt like he was waiting for something. Waiting for permission. 

Ryu reached down to take one of Gai's hands. Gai unclenched the fist and let Ryu move his hand to Ryu's hair. 

It worked. Gai's finger's tangled in Ryu's hair and he pulled them closer together. Heat flared in Ryu’s chest as he moaned into the kiss. It was a different heat than Ryu remembered. An older one, steady and glowing instead of wild and intense.

Gai shifted, head tilting to get a better angle, to push the kiss farther. Ryu’s winced an pulled away. He put a hand to his mouth and pulled back to see blood. The split that had only barely healed had opened again.

“Sorry.” Gai didn’t look sorry. He looked vulnerable. Even after years of friendship, Gai had never fully relaxed. There was always some sort of wall, a smirk or a shrug or a swig of whiskey instead of an honest answer.

But now Gai was open, staring at Ryu with dark eyes. “It was good though,” Gai said. His hand shook as it dropped to Ryu’s shoulder. “Wasn’t it?”

“Very.”

Gai smiled. Sincerely smiled. He was cute when he smiled like that. It wasn’t rare anymore, but not nearly as common as Ryu wanted.

“What does that mean?” Gai asked. “For us?”

“We’ve got time to figure that out.” Ryu ran his fingers through Gai’s hair. It looked so different when it wasn’t styled. Not bad, but not quite the Gai he was used to. Ryu realized he'd be seeing a lot more of that in the weeks of recovery. 

Gai leaned into the touch, eyes closing. He laughed. “I guess your stupid plan really did work.”


End file.
